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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Klitschko beats Chagaev with TKO

Wladimir Klitschko celebrates his TKO win over Ruslan Chagaev.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Wladimir Klitschko again proved his dominance of the heavyweight division, stopping Ruslan Chagaev in a hastily put together title fight Saturday night before 61,000 fans at a soccer stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

The IBF and WBO champion added the Ring Magazine belt to his haul, knocking Chagaev down in the second round and opening a cut over the Uzbekistan-born fighter’s left eye in the eighth.

Referee Eddie Cotton stopped the fight before the 10th round.

“You can’t underestimate Chagaev,” said Klitschko, who stands with his brother Vitali as clearly the best in the division. “He did everything today, but I was better.”

Chagaev, who is the WBA’s “champion in recess,” raised a deep bruise under Klitschko’s right eye, but was done in by the Ukrainian’s height advantage and superior power. With his strong left jab and hard straight rights, Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs) bloodied Chagaev and never appeared in danger.

“Throughout the fight, I searched for the keys to unlock a win, but I just couldn’t find them,” Chagaev said.

Spain sets record with win

Soccer: Spain set an international soccer record with its 15th straight victory, a 2-0 win over South Africa at Bloemfontein, South Africa, that allowed the host nation to scrape into the Confederations Cup semifinals along with the European champion.

David Villa took a high cross on the chest in the 52nd minute and with perfect control, turned and shot past goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune. Fernando Llorente added a second goal in the 72nd minute.

Spain broke a tie with Brazil, France and Australia, who all won 14 in a row. Spain also is unbeaten in 35 matches, tying the record set by Brazil from December 1993 to January 1996.

Phelps sets personal best in Montreal

Swimming: Michael Phelps swam a personal-best time of 50.48 seconds in winning the 100-meter butterfly at the Canada Cup, flirting with the world record set here four years ago by American Ian Crocker.

“This pool is still in great shape and it’s fast too, it’s without a doubt fast,” said Phelps, who won one of his record eight gold medals in setting an Olympic record in the event last summer, the only event in which he did not establish a world record.

Phelps is using the Montreal meet as a final tuneup for the U.S. championships, which will serve as the trials for the world championships in Rome next month.

Edwards wins at Milwaukee

Auto racing: Carl Edwards made the most of his one-day Wisconsin getaway, winning the Nationwide series race at the Milwaukee Mile at West Allis, Wis., after taking a brief break from his Sprint Cup duties in California.

Edwards, who also won last year’s race at the Mile, did his customary backflip on the frontstretch after taking the checkered flag Saturday.

“I’m just glad I got to do it tonight,” Edwards said in a radio interview in victory lane.

Busch finished second, followed by Brad Keselowski.

Edwards and Busch flew more than 2,000 miles from California earlier in the day – meaning they would have to start at the back of the pack after replacement drivers qualified their cars – but arriving in time to take the green flag.

•Castroneves awarded pole for Iowa 250: Helio Castroneves was awarded the pole for today’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Newton, Iowa, after rain washed away qualifying.

Ryan Briscoe, also from Team Penske, will start second. Target Chip Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will start third and fourth followed by Danica Patrick.

Vettel earns third pole of season at British GP: Sebastian Vettel captured the pole for the British Grand Prix, while Formula One championship leader Jenson Button will start from a season-worst sixth.

In his revamped Red Bull car, Vettel set the fastest lap time in qualifying, finishing in 1 minute, 19.509 seconds to edge Rubens Barrichello by 0.347 seconds.

Becker wins 1st ATP title at Ordina Open

Tennis: German qualifier Benjamin Becker won his first ATP title, beating Dutch wild card Raemon Sluiter 7-5, 6-3 at the Ordina Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

Earlier, Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand became the first player to successfully defend the Ordina Open women’s title by beating Yanina Wickmayer 6-3 7-5.

Sluiter is the lowest ranked player – at No. 866 – to reach an ATP final.

Wozniacki beats Razzano for Aegon title: Caroline Wozniacki won the Aegon International title at Eastbourne, England, defeating unseeded Virginie Razzano of France 7-6, 7-5.

The sixth-seeded Dane earned her second title of the year and fifth of her career.

After upsetting top-seeded Elena Dementieva and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, Razzano was seeking her third career title and her first win over Wozniacki in three meetings.

On the men’s side, second-seeded Dmitry Tursunov won the title after defeating unseeded Frank Dancevic of Canada 6-3, 7-6.

Martin wins 8th stage in Switzerland

Cycling: Tony Martin of Germany won the eighth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, and Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia clung to the overall lead at Vallorbe Juraparc, Switzerland.

Martin finished the 113-mile route in 4 hours, 12 minutes, 31 seconds to record the sixth stage win in the Tour de France warmup for Team Columbia-Highroad.